Nirmal Purja, the Nepal-born British mountaineer who became a global name after climbing all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre peaks in under 189 days, is among ten climbers missing after an avalanche struck Broad Peak in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan confirmed the avalanche hit the expedition around midday on Thursday on Broad Peak, an 8,047-metre peak in the Karakoram range. The team has been out of communication since.
Who is Nirmal Purja
Purja, widely known by his nickname Nims Dai, was born in Nepal and later became a British citizen after joining the British Army in 2003. He went on to become a Royal Marine in 2009, serving in elite special forces units before transitioning to professional mountaineering.
His entry into high-altitude climbing came almost by accident. In 2012, he trekked to Everest Base Camp with no intention of going further. Once there, he decided to climb Everest instead of turning back. That decision set the course for everything that followed.
Broad Peak Avalanche and Missing Climbers
The ten missing climbers include five Nepalese mountaineers, Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi from Hunza, Omani climber Nathira, American climber Mallory Geis, a Chinese climber identified only as Wang, and one other foreign climber.
Poor weather has so far prevented helicopters from reaching the site, delaying aerial search-and-rescue operations. The Alpine Club of Pakistan said its president, Maj Gen Irfan Arshad, and senior officials are coordinating efforts to mobilise helicopters and other resources as soon as conditions allow. Authorities were preparing to deploy helicopters on Friday morning if weather improved.
Nirmal Purja Tracking Device Signals Movement
The one detail offering rescuers any hope is a tracking device Purja was carrying at the time of the avalanche.
Mingma Gyabu Sherpa, Purja's business partner and a Nepal lawmaker, told Kantipur on Friday that data from the device showed Purja's location had shifted after the avalanche struck.
"Initially, it appeared that he had been swept downhill by the avalanche," Sherpa was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post. "But after the point where the tracking had stopped, the location appears to have shifted again."
Sherpa was careful to note that the tracking data could not confirm Purja's condition or whether he was conscious. He also said detailed information about the incident only reached them on Thursday evening, several hours after the avalanche had struck.
14 Peaks Netflix Documentary
In 2019, Purja launched what he called Project Possible, an attempt to climb all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres in the fastest time ever recorded. The previous record stood at just under eight years. Purja completed all 14 in 189 days.
The achievement made him one of the most recognised names in modern mountaineering and was later turned into the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, which brought his story to a global audience well beyond the climbing community.
The record he set was surpassed in 2023 by Norwegian climber Kristin Harila and her Nepali Sherpa guide Tenjin Sherpa, who completed the same 14 peaks in 92 days.
Broad Peak and the Karakoram
Broad Peak sits in the Karakoram range in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan, on the border with China. At 8,047 metres, it is the twelfth highest mountain in the world and one of the fourteen 8,000-metre peaks Purja himself summited during Project Possible.
The Karakoram is widely considered the most technically demanding high-altitude range in the world, with a higher fatality rate than the Himalayas. Broad Peak has seen multiple avalanche incidents over the years, with its upper slopes known for unpredictable conditions during the summer climbing season.
Rescue operations remain on standby as of Friday morning, entirely dependent on whether the weather over the Karakoram clears enough to allow helicopters to reach the mountain.
(With TOI inputs)
